


If Nothing Else

by All_The_Love_For_Hyuckle, juici_xuxi



Category: NCT (Band), WayV (Band)
Genre: Homework, M/M, Mailman!!Taeil, Religion, Religious Conflict, Tutoring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-01-03 05:57:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21174548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_The_Love_For_Hyuckle/pseuds/All_The_Love_For_Hyuckle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/juici_xuxi/pseuds/juici_xuxi
Summary: Ten finds himself with the help of Trigonometry homework, Prince, and an angsty kid with dumb socks.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! We had so much fun writing this and we hope you enjoy it❤ all comments, suggestions and kudos are welcome!

The locker room is literally the bane of my existence, it always reeks of testosterone, sweat, and way too much cologne. It is however, one of the few places that I get to talk to Kun, who I used to be close to until sophomore year when he became Student Body President (he hasn't had the time for me since). Taeyong also looks forward to seeing Kun, but I think he uses the locker room to flex more than he does to talk. Currently, Taeyong is observing himself in the mirror as he listens to me rant, which is fairly normal. "So I think my parents are trying to set me up with Tzuyu."

Kun looks over, clearly at least semi-intrigued. "What makes you say that?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that they won't stop hinting that she's a 'really nice girl' and we would look 'so good together'." That came out a little harsher than I meant for it to. 

"Ten, that's great, what are you talking about? You act like that's something awful!" Honestly, I should've expected this from Taeyong. He's pretty much always talking about some girl he thinks is hot or how Jihyo's pants make her butt look extra good today, blah, blah, blah.

"I mean, she is nice and all but- I don't know. I just don't really like the idea of being set up." Taeyong whirls around before I can even finish my sentence.

"She's literally one of the hottest girls I think I've ever seen." He tends to be a bit... overdramatic at times. "You're crazy if you pass this up."

Now it's Kun's turn to put in his two cents, "And you know, she may even like you." he chuckles a bit, probably hoping to make that sound less sarcastic. I playfully mock him and actually start getting changed.

Unfortunately, Taeyong loves to talk. "Oh yeah, I heard that the football team was coming in here after their ga-" speak of the devil, look who's here.

Right as I stand up to finally go to my locker, I get a face full of someone's sweaty, toned chest, adorned with a pair of black barbell nipple piercings. An odd choice for a guy on the football team but, to each his own. I try to mumble an apology but y'know- face full of guy chest. He steps back first. That 'someone' happens to be Jaehyun, a boy who used to be one of my best friends before high school put a bit of distance between us. We still talk though, and he's a pretty decent guy, unlike a lot at this school.

"Oh- I didn't know you got that." Why am I so _awkward_? 

He looks confused which really doesn't help my awkwardness. _At. All._ "Got what?"

I don't trust myself to talk without screwing things up even more, so I just point to his nipples. Not any less awkward. Why am I so flustered? I'm friends with this guy.

Jaehyun looks down "Oh the piercing? Yeah... uh let's just keep this between us?"

"Uh.. okay yeah, no problem." I can see how he doesn't want many people to know. We're a part of the same church and all hell would break loose if his mom found out.

❣ ❣ ❣

One of my favorite ways to spend time with Taeyong is after school. We don't really have a time limit, there are no teachers or stupid classmates around and it just feels normal. We pretty much always walk out of school together, talking on the slow walk to our cars. Normally, we talk about our dance classes, our teen-life crises, and our animals. Animals have always made Taeyong very happy, but he doesn't want anyone to know that. So yeah, this is honestly the highlight of my day most of the time.

Most of the time. "Hey Ten, isn't that Tzuyu?" Oh God, why me? I'm just praying she doesn't actually come talk to me. I don't really want that while Taeyong is here, who knows what he would say. "What is she looking for?"

"I don't know Taeyong, I can't read minds." I sigh. Of course this had to happen, us nearly running into her after school. She sets her bag down on the ground and starts looking through it, effectively flashing both Taeyong and me. Curse the stupid school dress code. Taeyong sure seems to be enjoying it though, just in case that wasn't obvious by the way he's slapping my arm and whispering for me to look.  _Believe me, I see_ . With yet another sigh, I drag him away from the view and towards the parking lot.

He whines at me like a 4-year-old. "What was that for? You're going to be seeing a lot more of that if you're going to be dating her you know. Besides, it's not like we were hurting anyone by looking."

"Oh you know, basic human decency. Besides, I wasn't digging it anyway." Should I have said that? That I, a straight, LDS male that didn't enjoy getting accidentally flashed by my possible future girlfriend? Probably not.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooo~ 
> 
> So, as the fic is Ten (winkwonk) chapters long, we intend to post two at a time. One chapter for Ten, and the other for Hyuck (one author has control over each character,) so that will be 5 posting sessions in total!
> 
> Please enjoy 🌺

**_FullSun:_ **

_oh, fuck me_

_fuck me royally_

_Mr. Seo got a buzzcut and I swear on my lifemArk_

_he’s never looked better _

_f l a w l e s s_

** _OhCanada:_ **

_Gd just get your books out and stop being so gay_

_Wait_

_He buzzed it all off?_

** _FullSun:_ **

_ew no_

_thats ugly_

_just the back and sides <3_

“Lee Donghyuck, phone up!” _ Shit._ “Maybe if you don’t want to get caught next time, turn down your brightness.” My phone goes up before my eyes do; I don’t like looking at Mr. Seo if I don’t have to, especially when he catches me doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing. 

“Sorry, sir.” I feel the phone being taken from me, but he’s careful not to actually touch my hands. Screw him and his professionalism–

“Sure you are Donghyuck.” He clears his throat as he makes his way over to his desk again, and it’s only just now that I hear the click of the phone screen being shut off. That can’t be good. “Glad to know that you like my haircut, Hyuck.” There it is, my daily dose of humiliation that apparently everyone in the school thinks I just can’t live without. 

I can feel my face scrunch up and a small groan escapes me as a few laughs come from my classmates. Mainly girls, who are either laughing cause they think Mr. Seo’s cute, or that  _I’m cute, _ although the boy behind me also lets out a snicker at my misery, which I just caught the end of. Too bad for the girls though, I’m playing on their team. However, the ones that like Mr. Seo know what’s up, I only wish he was gay. 

~~~~~

The wax burner is on, and the house smells like clove.

Coming home from school is a relief, or at least, it should be, but I hear mom talking to Mrs. Whiting in what I think is the kitchen. Now, usually I don’t really care about company but she makes me stop in the entryway, and I can feel my shoes quietly slip off of my feet. I really don’t want to talk to her. I like to think that I get along with most adults, but she is not one of them. We got along just fine until I hit middle school. I spent all of seventh grade purposefully wearing ‘inappropriate’ clothing ( read: skulls and upside-down crosses) every Wednesday night during CCD, and by the time I was in eighth grade I was too stubborn to take my confirmation. The split I experienced with the church was both started and finished by me, I can admit that, but that doesn’t mean that the bitch in my kitchen didn’t spur me on. 

So I need to make it past the kitchen doorway and up the stairs without being noticed to reach my room.  _Easy peasy._ I make sure that my backpack is on my back evenly so it doesn’t rustle as I walk, and I slowly make my way past the entryway, through the living room and past the kitchen–

“Donghyuck, you’re home!” Mom calls me out, and I know that there’s no escaping up to my room now. 

I enter the kitchen slowly, “Hi, mom,” I feel myself draw her name out and I make my way over to the cupboard, in attempts to distract myself with getting a glass of water. “Hi Mrs. Whiting, it’s been a while.”

“That it has Donghyuck; I was actually here to try to see if your mom would join us for mass this Sunday. You could come too, you know.” I swear on my life, this woman was a Karen in her past life, through and through. 

The ice machine blares loudly just as she begins to speak again, and I let it fill for as long as I can before immediately pressing the glass of ice up to the Brita. “I’ll have to decline, thanks anyways.” I take a sip of my water to keep from staring her down, I already sounded snippy enough judging by the way mom winced; I really don’t need to go the extra mile. I tame my own face and pull down my drink, “I’m sure mom wouldn’t mind going though.” 

Mrs. Whiting turns her eyes off of me and I feel nearly immediate relief, and my mom speaks up again to fill the space. “Well, I like to spend Sundays with my son, on top of that I’ve started taking more shifts and you know he doesn’t really feel welcome there anymore.” 

“It’s been years since he came last, the church is so open-minded nowadays. I’m sure if he came again, he’d like it.” 

“I’d rather not, I’m not very religious anymore. Again, I’m sure mom wouldn’t mind going with you if you wanted to drag her out.” 

I can tell that Mrs. Whiting is sold because she begins to discuss mass times with my mom; now I know I can leave safely. “I’ll be in my room, call me if you need me mom.” I mentally applaud myself for getting Mrs. Whiting of my back without my bitch switch flipping on.

“Later Gator!” Mom calls back, and I wince with my back to them as I leave the kitchen and head to my room. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was actually written by both authors and if I remember correctly, we pulled this all together in a weekend so we hope you enjoy it! Much love~💖

Kun rarely talks to me because he's always so busy, but he's waving at me as he makes his way over. "Hey Kun, what's up?"

"Hey, I just talked with Jinyoung, he wants you to go to his classroom." he leans against the lockers in front of me and I'm visibly confused

"Oh? What for?" He shrugs.

"He didn't say, he just told me to send you over there. He didn't seem annoyed or anything so I'm sure everything's fine."

Everything is _not_ fine. Mr. Park is someone that both Kun and I know from church and he's pretty laid back there, but here as a teacher... it's never good when you get called to his classroom. He's the type of teacher that won't typically embarrass students in class unless they're screwing around and obviously being obnoxious on purpose. Instead, he'll call them to his classroom during breaks or something and then boy do they get it. He can be pretty harsh sometimes and a lot of kids have said they're scared of him. I kinda see why, but at the same time, the most he can do is put you in suspension. And out of all things, he teaches trig, so it's not like he has a lack of perseverance.

Arriving at his classroom, I knock on the already open door before walking in, "Mr. Park? Kun told me that you wanted to see me?"

He looks up and smiles at me from his desk, "Yes, I was wondering how close you are with the boy that sits behind you, Lee Donghyuck?" he stands up and starts rummaging through some papers on the counter to the side.

I don't like where this is going. "I've heard about him and talked to him once or twice over the years but that's basically it."

"You may have noticed that he hasn't really been in class lately. Do you think you could take some of his work to him?" Before I can even answer him, he's handing me a stack of papers. "I don't want him to get too far behind, that's a lot of tutoring that neither one of us want, and I don't want him to fail either so, this is the best I could come up with."

Well, I wanted to say no but after that, how can I? "Yeah, of course, I can take them." Well, better to stay on his good side anyways right? Donghyuck is never going to get through this stack of papers. Jinyoung said that he wanted me to take 'some' of his work. If this is only 'some', all hope may be lost for this guy already.

•••

_Why?_ Why did I agree to this? I barely know this guy, I got his address from Mark and I'm about to go knock on his door to give him homework that literally nobody wants. It can't get much worse than this so, here goes nothing. The light for the doorbell goes on and then back off as I press the button and step back to wait. Unfortunately for me, there's an audible groan from the other side of the door.

Donghyuck opens the door, already looking exasperated, and I pray that this won't end too badly. "Fuck. Off." He looks like a real wreck, in an unfitting apricot sweater paired with dark-wash jeans that have an obviously accidental hole in them. His mismatched socks, oddly enough, match. They both have little emojis all over them, one has bananas while the other has monkeys.

"Damn okay-" I kind of expected something unhappy but that was a shocker, much more than I anticipated.

•••

I get that I should be tolerant of other religions, but I really want to set the Mormon church on fire. I thought that they like- coordinated their missions so that they don't all go to the same place, but the amount of missionaries that have knocked on my goddamn door as of late-

The doorbell rings again. I groan, and trudge over to the door, trying to put on my 'go-away' face. "Fuck. Off." 

"Damn, okay-" Well shit, this isn't a missionary after all. This is a kid from school, a dance kid named Ten. I think we literally share the same schedule cause I see him everywhere on campus, but we've definitely never talked- so why is he here now?

"Uh-" I clear my throat, "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else. Why are you here?"

"Mr. Park wanted me to bring you some of your work because you've been gone from class a lot and he doesn't want you to fail. I guess he wanted me to do it because I sit by you or something."

This is not what I need to hear,  _no sir,_ and if I visibly wince I hope Ten doesn't pity me too badly. "That's absolutely lovely... Hand it over." Looking at the stack he all-but-slaps me with makes me sick; there is no fucking way I can finish this. Flipping through the pages only makes it worse, "Uhh, actually, scratch that, you can just put this in the trash can outside, I'd rather not, thanks."

"I mean, if you'd rather spend every day after school in his classroom while he tutors you, be my guest."

The inhale I take is sharp; I most definitely do _not_ want that. I hold the hell-stack closer to me, and the smile on my face is anything but happy, I can feel that for sure. "You know, I'll actually take my chances with the packet." 

"Do you want some help or-? Trig can be pretty horrid if you try teaching yourself."  _Yes;_ I most definitely do, but- admitting that openly feels weird. This whole conversation has made me want to grimace but now I can feel it in action, and I bet it isn't pretty.

"I probably wouldn't understand you anyways; but if you're dying to then yeah, sure. Knock yourself out." My side leans against the door and my head brushes the frame, and with the way he's looking at me, I can tell he isn't gonna go back on this. Which is helpful.

"Yeah, because I'm totally just  _dying_ to help you." Ten rolls his eyes, and then shakes his hair out of his eyes swiftly, "I just thought it would be better than having to spend forever with Mr. Park after school. That's all."

That's a confirmation if I've ever heard one, let's get it. "Okay, sure. Do you want me to pay you for this or something or?-"

I don't think he was really expecting me to ask, but I felt it was necessary. Thankfully to my savings, he says no. "Um.. I didn't really think of that.. But no, it's fine. That'll just make things more complicated." 

"Alright, well uh. Thanks for the offer, we can do it on a weeknight if that works for you? We can talk details at school." The packet comes closer to my chest, and for a moment I vaguely remind myself of a schoolgirl. I'm also becoming rather fi d gety, toeing the hem of my sock around with my other foot. The awkwardness of this all hasn't worn off, and it's definitely getting to me, but he hasn't seemed to notice, so it's okay.

"Yeah, that works. I should probably get going, and I'm sure you have things to be doing too so..."

I don't. But Ten doesn't need to know that, "I'll see you on Monday then." He tosses his hair out of his eyes again and then nods.

"Yeah, see ya." Before he leaves he gives me a little smile, and it's a gorgeous smile that I can appreciate now only cause he's leaving. He has the kind of smile that's sharp, unlike mine or Mark's or even Mr. Seo's- I would give more examples but it's not often that I look at people's smiles the way I just looked at his. Despite the fact that this conversation was a trainwreck basically the entire way through, with a smile like his he still manages to seem elegant. I think about this, past shutting the door and past peeking out the window to see if he's gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ 
> 
> Please scream at us down below, we'd love to hear from you!
> 
> All Kudos and feedback are appreciated, enjoy 🌸🌸🌸

Mom’s car is already driving away as I trek up Mark’s driveway and to his door. His driveway is a literal mountain, and while it’s a hassle (especially when it’s covered in ice) I guess my house makes up for it in stairs; Mark’s house is only one story. I don’t knock, we text each other when we arrive and the other says to make a run straight to their room. So up to Mark’s room I go.

“Markkkk, Markieee,” My bag falls on his bed as he walks out from his closet, toweling his head and holding his t-shirt in his mouth. He grunts at me in response; it’s a greeting. 

“Still refusing to use the gym showers, I see.” The cuff of my pant rides up as I hike my foot up to casually rest on his bedframe. The stereotype is right, queer people never sit straight. 

Mark throws the towel over my leg and puts on his shirt. Mark’s pretty– his build is lean and extracurriculars keep him toned, but Mark knows that he isn’t the one for me. Which honestly, is probably the only reason he can change in front of me at all. Mark’s always been the more modest of the two of us. “Yeah man, I just think it’s weird.” 

“I’m the gay one; shouldn’t I be the one refusing to use the gym showers?” 

Mark snorts, but it’s hollow, “Ha ha, very funny.”

I push it a little further, “I guess it makes sense. Wouldn’t wanna drop the soap with an ass like that–“ My face is full of wet towel, how pleasant. I can smell his shampoo through the fabric, and that’s definitely eucalyptus (His mother has good taste.) but I’m also picking up what I think axe body spray would smell like if you extracted and disposed of the ‘my name’s Kyle and I wear my hats backwards’ scent. Mark does wear his hats backwards sometimes (and I tell him to stop), but that’s not the point. 

The towel doesn’t stay there for long, as Mark whips it back and over his shoulder, “I’m  _also_ getting ready because tonight is Mutual–“ 

“Shit, you never told me that!” 

“I tried to, and you wouldn’t listen!” Mark’s frowning at me now, and his nose scrunches into his head like normal, but if he was actually mad his eyes would narrow at me along with the nose scrunch so I think I’m good. 

I pout in response to ease Mark’s wrinkles. “I don’t remember any such thing.” I do, actually. ( _“Mark I wanna sleepover on Tuesday.” “Hyuck, you’re not gonna wanna come on Tuesday, I have–“ ”Bullshit, I always wanna come and see you, and mom already said yeah.”)_

“If you really don’t wanna go you can just walk home you know, but like I’ve said before, it isn’t  _that_ bad. It’s just a bunch of dudes chillin’. You probably know most of them from school already."

“It’s just a bunch of dudes chillin’?”

“More or less, yeah.” Mark blinks at me, and I’m fairly sure he’s surprised that I’m not shutting him down. However, that’s not why I asked.

“Chillin’… with Jesus?” I fully deserve the second face of wet towel that comes my way. 

~~~~~

So yeah, now I’m at Mutual with Mark, which as he said, isn’t actually  _that_ bad. Someone brought cookies, and after the activity and closing prayer, we were left to ourselves. Also, Mark was right; I  _do_ know most of the people here, although we aren’t on speaking terms. 

There’s Jaemin and Jeno; both play on the football team with Mark. Jaemin and I became acquainted once I saw him painting his nails pink under the desk when we were taking notes in history. Jeno takes anatomy with me, and the only reason why I remember that is because he did an entire presentation on cat allergies, and he started it with “ _These are my cats, who live in my room, that I am very much allergic to. This topic seemed relevant.” _

Jaehyun’s currently talking to us (more like talking to Mark, I’m just occupying space); and I know him as the boy we all give our shitty lunch milk to. I see Hyunsik and Changsub from my choir class (I didn’t even know they were LDS,) and I probably should try and befriend them at some point. We’re all sopranos, which means that we all get the  _exact same shit_ to sing, and memorization isn’t my strong suit, so unless we sing a song I’m actually into (that hasn’t happened yet), I have to drown my ears until I know the song inside and out. They’re chatting in the corner though, and I not only don’t want to interrupt them, but I also don’t want to be outside of a three feet bubble from Mark at any-and-all times tonight. 

To finish my people-I-Know-at-mutual-list, Ten’s here. Which shouldn’t be surprising, I knew he was LDS, and Mark knows him decently despite them sharing next-to-no classes together. I don’t really know if it’s acceptable to say hi, especially after what happened last Friday. On one hand, he’s now kind of my impromptu tutor, but on the other hand, I was kind of a dick. And he was kind of a dick. And I kind of embarrassed myself in front of him. 

~~~~~

By the time we’re leaving the church, I'm tired. A bit too tired for it to only be nine at night, but this was a new environment so I think I can cut myself some slack. How Mark juggles being on the football team  _and_ AP classes  _and _ church activities  _and_ being on the student body all at once is beyond me, and I think one day he’s gonna drop dead. Sometimes I look at Mark and I wonder if all of this is actually what he wants. 

Mark gets pulled away by Jaehyun to carry the chairs into the storage room, and I decide to lean myself against the rear bumper of the car while I wait.

I heard that some people live their lives hoping they’ll be happy if they keep everyone around them happy too; or that they’ll feel fulfilled if they spend their lives prioritizing others, and I think that’s Mark. He doesn’t like turning people down, and that’s how I managed to wedge myself into his life when we were younger. I just kept popping up until he said no, but that day never came. Now the friendship is mutual, and I’d like to think that I’m his outlet; He keeps me on the ground and I let him float. But it didn’t start like that.

A lot has changed since then, to be fair. Nowadays, It feels like people ask for me more than I ask for them, with Mr. Lee and Mrs. Whiting and my classmates and Ten– 

Ten is walking up to me now, I guess he isn't feeling as strange as I am about what happened on Friday.

"Hey Donghyuck," He leans against the side of Mark's car with me, "So, we didn't really talk much about when we would actually get together for tutoring. When are you typically free?"

"I'd say Mondays or Thursdays, Wednesdays I have Choir. If you wanted to come on weekends that'd work too I guess, but I'd prefer not." I also could've said Tuesday- or even Fridays, but I need time to myself. And Mondays and Thursdays are my bad days anyways, so I might as well spend them doing something I hate.

Ten looks up like he's thinking, and I've been spending too much time with Mark cause I wait for his face to scrunch in, "Monday's don't really work for me... so I guess Thursdays? Do you care what time?" 

I  _do_ care. "No, not really, If you want you could come directly after school, or you could come after dinner.." I really hope he doesn't stay for dinner, that's embarrassing. Neither my mom or I are the best in the kitchen, and I've heard Ten's family is well off, (as if his clothes don't scream that already, Mr. I-Wear-Cashmere-In-The-Winter).

"I can come after dinner, that would probably work best for everyone honestly." Oh thank  _god._

"Okay, that works for me." The conversation falls, and I feel like I need to say something. I cough, and it's a bit louder and definitely more awkward than I would have liked, cause my voice scratches up after as I speak, "Thanks for offering to, you know, help me pass Trig."

"Oh uh yeah, no problem." The smile Ten gives me feels warm, and I dare to say I feel younger than I actually am looking at it. Mark jogs back over and tries to give ten what I have deemed 'The Broshake', accompanied by a standard " _Hey man_ ." Ten stands there as Mark bros around him until Mark gets the hint and pulls his hand back.

"Hi," Ten says. The choked snicker that leaves my lips is completely unintentional, and I hold the back of my hand up to my face to make it look like I'm getting an itch instead.

"So, I think Mark and I are leaving, yeah?" I try to save Mark. 

"Yeah, yeah! We were about to get going. Sorry man." Mark rubs his hand over his arm as he speaks, and then he tries to lean against the car like the two of us but his hand slips.

Ten giggles, and it's surprisingly cute. At school, he has a certain femininity that wafts around him, even when he hangs around with dick-brains like Taeyong, and I guess that isn't a quality he only keeps at school. "It's okay, I'm not trapping you here." He takes a few steps away from Mark's car as he speaks, before turning away and slipping into Jaehyun's truck; I feel myself subconsciously swallow.

"All right, are you ready to head out?" I look to Mark.

"Yeah, I am." He straightens up and rummages for his keys in his pocket so we can go home.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was pretty quickly proofed and edited so I'm sorry for any mistakes💛

A setup. That's what this is. My parents are setting me up to make a fool of myself. I can hear Taeyong's voice in my head telling me to 'stop being so dramatic' or 'no worries, you'll be fine'. To that I say, no Taeyong. I will not be fine. My parents planned a date for Tzuyu and me, they didn't tell me where, they didn't tell me if she was in on it or if this is some weird parent-collaboration that probably shouldn't have happened, all I know is that I'm nervous. They told me to dress casual, so it's probably (hopefully) just the new rec-center that opened up a few months ago.

Luckily, that means I don't have to look nice. By 'nice' I mean no suit, no swim attire, no sporty clothes, nothing of the sort, just some nice jeans and a t-shirt. Perfect. At least I'll be comfortable.

I'm not against dating her, I just feel like it's going to be awkward since our parents were the ones that set it all up, not either of us. She's a pretty girl, Tae is right about that for sure. I'm a straight guy that got set up with a beautiful girl, you'd think I'd be happy.

###  ♡♡♡

We've been here for probably 30 minutes so far, half of that was spent playing nothing but air hockey. Eventually, we moved on to foosball, pool and arcade basketball; let's just say, I was crushingly defeated, every time.

"Will you hand me that purple piece?" we decided to move on to something a little less competitive for a while. I hand her the piece and she doesn't even look up, she's too focused on forming the lavender clouds pictured on the front of the box. I actually enjoy spending time with her. We've only talked a few times, mostly at church events and such but now I see why my parents say she's such a 'great girl'. There's not a lot of talking between the two of us, but it's a comfortable silence.

Unlike most of the things here, I'm actually good at doing puzzles. There's a cute little Ferris wheel in the middle with some small but intricate little carnival stands to either side of it. Tzuyu looks up at me and holds out a puzzle piece with a small smile on her face "It looks like you might need this." 

I give her a small smile in return and take the piece, fitting it into some other pieces already matched up. Comfortable silence should only last so long on a first date so to make conversation or small talk at the very least, I pause before speaking up, "So uhm, what kind of hobbies do you have?" 

She looks up at me, but it's just for a moment before she goes back to focussing on the puzzle and responding. "I really like painting, dancing and seeing the occasional horror movie." she looks up again "You?"

"I love dancing, it's my passion if I'm being honest. Horror movies aren't bad though." I offer a small smile, if we end up going on a second date, it'll have something to do with one of the two if that's all we know we have in common so far.

"I heard about this new dance class starting next week, it's supposed to teach all sorts of different styles of dances from different cultures. Would you maybe want to do that with me?" she's obviously so nervous, I couldn't bear to say no, whether I wanted to or not.

So here I am, nodding "Yeah, I heard about that too. It sounds like it'll be a lot of fun, especially if it's different cultural dances too."

She was about to respond when her phone starts ringing. Getting up and signaling that she'll only be a moment, she steps away to answer the phone. Something about this whole date has felt... off. Maybe I'm just nervous or something but it doesn't feel natural, at least not to me. It's nothing she's said or done, I'm not sure what it is, I know that I like women so it can't be that-

My thoughts get interrupted as she comes back to say that she has to go and starts collecting her things which really only consists of a phone and wallet. We exchange the basic goodbye's and I walk her to the door.

###  ♡♡♡

Here we go again. Maybe this time around will be more pleasant than the last. I'm inside Donghyuck's house for our first tutoring session, sitting on his mother's black leather couch while he grabs us some water bottles.

"Here you are." he looks a lot better when he's not annoyed, he actually looks a little- cute? "I already got through all the stuff I know how to do, so.. yeah, inverses. Page 112."

"That's actually a lot more simple than it looks, all you have to do is when putting sine, cosine or tangent into the calculator, you put a -1 exponent after it and then the problem just like normal." I lean over and show him how to do the first one to prove that it is pretty simple. "Does that make sense?" 

I'm not even sure he needs my help, he seems to be doing just fine. "Oh, so I'm just reversing the values and solving for the second one..." his voice fades out as he works on the problem, soon coming up with the correct answer "Yeah, this makes sense."

"Okay good. Do you want to keep working on these or move on to a different kind of problem?" Looking over at him I realize just how close we are since I had moved over to work on his paper. Moving away would be a bit too obvious and noticeable so I just go back to looking at his paper. I know he's gay, but not only do I not care, but I also know how much shit he gets for it at school and I really don't want to add on to that.

"I want to try a cosine inverse problem since that one was a sine inverse problem, but yeah, we can move on. Did you want music or anything like that? It's your pick since you're helping." Okay yeah, definitely at least a little cute, especially when he smiles, the one he gave me was small, but there.

Looking back at him again and returning his smile I nod "Yeah, some soft music would be nice. If you want, we can try a cosine problem before moving on?" 

"Mhm, that sounds good. pick the problem you want me to do while I find some music," While flipping through the papers to find a challenging problem, some old famous western music starts playing in my ears. This has to be Prince, he's not a very difficult artist to recognize.

"Should we try doing unit circles?" These are awful, I've never liked doing them so we might as well get it over with.

He protests with a disapproving groan. "I hate those, they're so annoying. Like- even in Geometry, I'd cheat and google the angle chart during tests." I guess that makes two of us that despise these horrid things.

"Might as well get it over with then? I've always hated these too so I get it." lightly chuckling, I look up the chart. He's not the only one with it memorized. How the teachers expect us to do that, I have no idea.

I can literally see his face relax once he notices that I've googled the chart. "Yeah, I guess we might as well then."

After working on that for a while, we move on to a variety of 'solve for x' problems, getting a good portion of the packet done and out of the way. Through all of this, I've realized that he's really not as bad as people make him out to be. He's definitely a lot better than one would think based on his first impression. I mean yeah, he has his bad moments but that's just a part of being human and as much as I hate to admit it, I enjoyed this, tutoring him, more than I enjoyed going on the date with Tzuyu.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So our posting schedule has been every two weeks, however, we finished up very early and so we thought we could shorten the time between posts. Expect two new chapters every Friday!
> 
> Please scream at us, we love any and all comments and support!  
🥰🥰🥰

So, this Thursday marks the sixth tutoring session I'll have with Ten. In the span of all of this, I turned in the stupidly large homework packet Mr. Park assigned to me, my grade went from a D to a B-, and this week I've even gone to class like everyone else instead of ditching in the bathroom. So yeah, I'd say that tutoring has been more than beneficial. As stupid as it is, Ten's been great too. I mean, we don't go out of our way to talk when we're at school, but when we're alone.. he's different. You really can't tell when you watch him with his friends at school, but he's attentive, and determined, and energizing (maybe you  _can_ see that one at school.) He's also incredibly good at math, which I can't say I relate to, but the help has really done me some good. 

I always say that Mark drags me back down; lets me settle and be mad. But when I'm with Ten, I feel like hot wax. I've never been around a person who can make the room feel so alive but keep me so calm at the same time. It's new, and I think I like it too much for my own good. The last few sessions we've had, Ten told me he had to cancel with his girlfriend to come (which is strange because we do our sessions on the same day each week anyways), but I guess a complaint from her at some point was inevitable.

At current, Tzuyu is with Ten at a table, I'm walking past to leave the cafeteria’s lunch line, and I oh-so-coincidentally hear her speak. "Ten, I know that you're just tutoring Donghyuck but I think he may have feelings for you. Maybe you should be careful the next time you go over, because you don't want to hurt his feelings but I know you don't swing that way." I'm not gonna say shit on it, but I stop at the salad bar near them to hear the conversation better. Ten should know better than that, right? Like- what's the point of "being careful" around me, what does that even  _mean_ ? 

"What is there to be careful about? And why does it matter? I trust him. He knows I'm with you and he wouldn't do anything." Ten’s defending me. I know I shouldn’t be surprised or whatever because he’s a genuinely  _good guy _ (but maybe I’m relieved, just a tiny bit.) 

"I've heard people talking about the two of you in your trigonometry class; people are spreading rumors that Donghyuck likes you. Already. It's only been a month or so. I'm just saying you don't want to hurt his feelings, so maybe you need to- I don't know- distance it a little?" Wait. Are they really? I haven’t heard anything; any typical snickers found coming my way during class always are from the teachers giving me shit. I didn’t think it was because of Ten. 

"Don't you understand that doing that  _will_ hurt his feelings?" Ten seems upset, and a little… defensive? Over me or over us, I don’t know, she keeps pushing that he’s straight but he doesn’t seem to like that. He softens up a little after, “Look, he gets enough crap for being gay. Don't ask me to give him more okay?" 

I don’t have much experience with girls, but apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because now Tzuyu’s pissed. "Hey, don't treat me like a homophobe! I'm not trying to be mean; I'm trying to keep it from getting worse than it already is. I didn't mean you had to cut him off entirely." Her arms cross and she’s definitely getting defensive; I’m so glad I’m not dating anyone right now.

"Okay, whatever, let's just drop it." Ten’s frowning now, but they’ve stopped fighting. Tzuyu sets a hand on his arm on top of the table and begins to murmur to him quietly, and I feel myself turn away to leave like I had initially intended. 

~~~~~

I like to eat basically everywhere except for the cafeteria unless it’s a special GSA day in which case I have an entire gay school community to eat with. On days without GSA meetings you can find those kids sitting with their various cliques; the honor students, the drama club, (okay but why do gay kids like theater so much? Why am I not averse to the theater club?) So yeah, most days I either eat with Mark or by myself, but I’m feeling the lonely outcast kind of vibe today so I eat on the bleachers.

Ten’s in my head, and my shitty lunch isn’t doing anything to help me change the topic. Let’s go over what we know, shall we? 

1\. Kids are apparently spreading rumors about Ten and I, saying that I like him.

2\. I may like him. Only a little.

3\. Ten has a girlfriend?

4\. Ten’s girlfriend doesn’t seem to like it when Ten and I hang out, and she’s asked him to stop seeing me as much.

And most importantly, 

5\. “Okay, whatever.”  _Ten agreed with her. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, like promised, new chapters every Friday! Which also means we'll be wrapping this up next week, which is so scary considering that we thought up this ficlet in early September and it's only days away from December.
> 
> Please enjoy, we love you! 🍂🍂🍂

I’m not avoiding  _Ten_ . I’m avoiding  _Tzuyu_

That’s a lie. I’m currently in trig, a class she doesn’t even  _have_ , and Ten’s been attempting to make eye contact with me the entire class. I think he thinks I’m mad at him.  _I’m not, I promise_ . After I overheard Tzuyu in the cafeteria last week I did a bit of digging (courtesy of Huang Renjun, the school’s biggest art snitch,) and she was right. Kind of.

See, she told Ten that people were spreading rumors that  _I_ liked  _him_ . What Renjun told me was that people are spreading rumors about  _him_ liking  _me_ . I guess people think I’ve converted him or something, because now the rumor’s spreading that Ten’s closeted. 

I don’t know whether to believe those rumors or not. I mean, my intuition is telling me that he doesn’t act like all the other heterosexual dickwads in our class for a reason, but neither does Mark. And Mark is  _very_ straight; maybe it’s an LDS thing?

I’m not sure, but now that I’ve been let into the loop, I can kind of see that he’s being treated differently. Especially with some of his more ‘Jockey’ labeled friends. And the last thing I want is for Ten to lose people he cares about because of some stupid rumor that he’s gay, especially if he’s not (If he is, then I’ll probably be the one helping him come out and maybe then I’ll have a chance?)

For now, I still want our tutoring sessions to keep going; I’ll just ask to change the day so that he’ll stop canceling with his girlfriend, and _definitely_ not interact with him much at school. So yes, I’m “avoiding” Ten. Just- not for whatever reason he’s thinking. 

~~~~~

I want to focus on trig, I really do. But all I can think about is Hyuck. He's been avoiding me all day; he won't even  _look_ at me. Whenever I look at him, trying to make eye contact or something to talk to him, he completely ignores me. Is this because of me? Is this because of the rumors? I pack up early to make sure that I can catch him after class. It shouldn't be too hard since he sits right behind me.

Walking over to his desk, I stand right by the opening for the seat, effectively trapping him in it. "Hey Hyuck, are we still on for tutoring on Thursday?" 

He tries to subtly shift his arm over his papers, "Uhm, no actually, I turned in the packet Mr. Park assigned to me and I'm doing fine now. I think I'm good."

Looking down at his paper that he unsuccessfully hid, I see that him 'doing fine' means getting a 63 on tests. "You're good?" 

He locks his jaw before blinking up at me "Yep. Just fine."

I have to physically restrain myself from rolling my eyes "Hyuck, a 63 isn't 'good'."

"A 63 is better than a 0 cause I ditched class." This time, I can't hold the eye-roll back. 

"I guess but the entire reason I started tutoring you was so that you wouldn't fail. I'll be there at 8."  _Just you try and fight me on this Lee Donghyuck._

Donghyuck glances to the other students at the door for a moment and then breaks, "Fine."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh only two more chapters after this! How are you guys enjoying the story so far? What do you think is going to happen?

Walking up to Donghyuck's house, I'm a little nervous because there's obviously something going on. I ring the doorbell and pray that everything goes at least semi-okay. I'm not going to push him to tell me what's wrong because I have no idea how that would end. Probably not good.

My thoughts get interrupted by his mother opening the door and greeting me with a warm smile "Hey, Donghyuck's up in his room if you're looking for him. We have some curry leftover from dinner and I think we have some chips for you both to snack on, let me know if you need anything."

"Okay thank you!" returning her smile, I head up to Hyuck's room with my bag and knock on the door. I'm greeted with a grunt which I'm assuming means it's okay for me to come in. Things were a little.. awkward today in class so I'm not exactly sure where we stand. With that, I'll just go in and stand by the door.

Hyuck stares at me and we just blink at each other for a couple of seconds. "... Are you just gonna stand there or?.." He's a little snippy.

As I walk over and sit on the bed beside him, I notice his room. All of our other tutoring sessions have been in the living room so this is the first time I've ever been in here. It smells like redwood and there's a hint of cinnamon. The entire room is pretty tidy for a teenage boy, there are a couple of vinyl records, a Michael Jackson poster on the wall to the left of his bed, and on the bed itself, there's a small plushie of a sun, probably given to him by Mark.

Hyuck stares at me and I feel compelled to say something, "Uhh.. nice room."

"... Thanks." He shifts uncomfortably on the bed. At least I'm not the only one that feels like that..

After awkwardly clearing my throat, I pull out the trig textbook. "Okay so where should we start? There's reciprocal identities, there's some normal word problems..." 

"Just start with Reciprocal Identities then, if that comes first." 

After flipping back to that section, I briefly read over the beginning to make sure I can explain it right "Okay, so sine of theta equals one over cosecant theta. So if sine of 30 degrees equals one-half, then how do you prove that the cosecant equals two?"

By the way he just slightly puffs his cheeks as he stares at the paper for what seems like forever, I can tell I've already lost him. "Wait, so am I solving for cosecant?"

"No, you're proving that the cosecant is two."

"Well how am I supposed to do that?"

"By using the formula; sine theta equals one over cosecant theta." He should know this, it's written pretty much everywhere in class.

He snorts at me. "You say that like I understand how to do that already. I don't get it." Guess that's a no. I should've known he wouldn't pay attention.

"All you have do is use the formula." Pulling his paper towards me I write out the formula, hoping that helps him at least a little.

"But what am I solving?" I guess that's another no. I sigh, maybe this is a lost cause. 

"You're literally not solving anything, you just have to prove that they're equal. Just plug everything into the formula."

"So... The cosecant of two equals the sine of one-half?" If I could face-palm without pissing him off, I would.

"No.." I sigh again, "The sine of 30 is equal to one over the cosecant of 30. Use that to prove that 1/2 is the reciprocal of 2."

Hyuck groans, and I can tell he's getting frustrated, "What the fuck? I can't do this." he scoots backward.

"What's your problem? You're not even trying!" at this point, I'm also frustrated. I'm here, trying to help him but apparently that's not good enough.

"Cause you're not explaining it to me! You're the one who came over even though I told you that you didn't have to!" Why is he getting so worked up now? He said that it was fine, but I guess it wasn't.

"I'm trying to! It's not my fault that you don't care." I don't understand why he doesn't want me here anymore.

"I care plenty _ now, _ I can handle my own fucking grades without you! I passed that test!  _Barely, _ but I passed. Yet you came here anyway. I told you not to." If by barely he means literally 4 points away from failing then yeah. I can totally see how he's handling his grades.

"Why are you so mad at me for trying to  _help_ ? Is it because of all the rumors?" People have been saying that Hyuck likes me, could that be it?

He looks glossy-eyed for a second before he seems even more upset, "Yes it's because of the rumors! Why don't you care, you have a girlfriend!" Does he actually have feelings for me?

"So just because of a few rumors and my girlfriend, you want nothing to do with me anymore?" Because that doesn't matter to me.

"I figured you'd care. Everyone already knows that I'm gay, it's your reputation being tarnished, not mine. Especially when you have asshats like Taeyong for friends."

I pause, "You know, maybe you're right. I shouldn't have come." That hurt more than it should have. This isn't  _normal _ Donghyuck. I start packing up my things, I don't want to be here anymore and he obviously doesn't want me here either.

He stays silent until I'm done packing and at the door before he puts in the last word. "Leave then." 

So I do.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're coming to the end of the fic! Today is our last posting day ): I really hope that you guys are enjoying the story💚

It's Thursday again, so it's been a whole week of awkwardly staring at the back of Ten's head during trig. That feels strange, and at this point I probably would have ditched again if I didn't tell him that I knew how to keep my grades together without him (I do; just-  _not_ trigonometry, this class can burn in hell.) Ten's stopped purposefully staring me down during class, which is relieving, but knowing that my rude-ass mouth is the reason  _why_ hasn't been doing me any good. 

I think today really wants to fuck with me; I need to sit with Mark so I can review for a test, but Mark's sitting with some of the football team. Some being one, and one being Jaehyun, who literally has sat with Ten and Taeyong since the beginning of time. To cut this short I guess I'm eating at Ten's table today.  _Just for you Mark, just for you._

Of course I sat as far away from Ten as I could, but I think the doe-eyed look of pure shock he gave me as I plopped down on Mark's right says enough about how welcomed I am at this table. Highschool is so labeled and if college is even half as bad I will surely rip my eyes out and become the residential mailman (I'm coming for you Taeil.) 

So yeah, I'm here to eat lunch and study with Mark, both having  _nothing_ to do with Ten, but as soon as I whip out my math notebook Ten's eyes narrow. I can't tell if it's upsetting me or giving me some spiteful form of joy to provoke Ten like this. I guess today's lunch will be spent rubbing my incredible friendship with Mark in Ten's face; showing him that I am, in fact, okay as a student without him. 

Or at least that's how I wish it was; Taeyong spoke up-  _no_ , he's been speaking. Only now he's caught my attention. "No but I got  _so_ shitfaced last night. It was fun, it was  _really fun_ . I'm pretty sure I banged this freshie last night too, I'm only saying that because I'm missing a condom and she may or may not have given me head this morning as a wake-up call."

Obviously, Ten doesn't care for Taeyong's gloating and he sets his head on his hand boredly, "Oh... that's nice Taeyong."

Taeyong looks dopey, and he doesn't even care that Ten's uninterested as he continues, "Yeah, yeah it really was. She was cute too. Not as cute as you though, Tzuyu."

I feel my eyebrows raise, and Mark's do the same as he grins into his water, (Jaehyun still gets all our milk.)  _Is Ten okay with this?_ I look over to see if he's upset. He hasn't even looked up from his food,  _does he not care_ ? 

Tzuyu seems to be okay with the attention, and she smiles at him knowingly. 

Taeyong presses, as if he's trying to get Ten to speak up. "Ten, you're so lucky to have a babe like Tzuyu, she's top-notch. You two must have so much fun together, if you know what I'm saying." Taeyong's grinning by the time he finishes, obviously satisfied with trying to pull their sex lives out into the open. I... don't particularly want to hear about this, if they actually give in I think I may have to leave.

I'm surprised; Tzuyu seems slightly perturbed. Almost embarrassed, even. "...Not really, no. Ten doesn't even kiss me." Ten's been causally eating, basically more or less ignoring the conversation until Tzyuyu spoke. He 'hmm's in confusion and lifts his head. 

Taeyong seems shocked; I feel the same. I knew that he ditched her a lot but I thought they were at least a bit more coupley than that. I wonder if Ten really isn't straight...

Taeyong beats me to what I was thinking, "Wait, Ten, are you actually gay?"

"Um no? If I was gay, why would I still be with Tzuyu?" 

"If you weren't gay, you'd be all over Tzuyu. Again, she's crazy hot." Taeyong gives ten a look I can only describe as condescending, before turning to Tzuyu to look her down, ending with a disgustingly charismatic grin. 

"I can be attracted to someone and not be  _all over_ them. It's not really a big deal." Ten rolls his eyes and continues to eat. 

"So you're really saying that you two have never gotten physical? At all? Even just to kiss?"

Ten tilts his head to Tzuyu, clearly asking her to give her opinion as well. 

Tzuyu looks back at him guiltily, "...It is a bit strange, Ten."

Taeyong slams his hands on the table "Wow dude, there is literally no way you're straight."

I want to speak up, Taeyong needs to shut his damn mouth, it isn't okay to just say shit like that so carelessly. "Taeyong-" I get interrupted by Ten standing up. 

He seems really tense, his shoulders and face stressing beyond what's normal. "Okay.. I'm gonna go. I forgot about this thing I had to do today." Ten walks off, and literally almost every pair of eyes at the table follow him out. 

I need to follow him. "I.. I need to-" I stand up, and walk after him. In my peripheral, Mark gives me a thumbs up. I scowl at him as I leave. 

💚💚💚

Nobody at that table had my back.  _Nobody_ . Not even my girlfriend. Is it really  _that _ weird that we don't kiss as often as other couples? Speedwalking my way over to the one place I know will be empty, the football field, I hear someone following me. "Look Tzuyu I don't really want to talk about it right now okay?"

Donghyuck speaks up. "I'm not Tzuyu. Look, Ten, I'm sorry; I thought you knew about the rumors. I thought you knew."

I  _really _ don't want to deal with this right now. "Look Hyuck, I appreciate the effort, but I really don't care about the stupid rumors. I don't care if you like me or not."

"What?" Hyuck stops once he reaches the football field. "Ten, no, that's not it. People are saying that you're closeted. That's why Taeyong was accusing you when you talked about Tzuyu."

I freeze, trying to fully understand what he means. "So... the rumors  _weren't _ about you? And last week... that's why you said that it was my reputation being ruined, not yours?"

He comes over and sits on the bleachers beside me. "Uhh.. yes? I don't remember much about what we said when you came over last Thursday, but yeah. It's.. okay, you know. Either way, gay or straight, it's okay. If you don't want to kiss Tzuyu, that's okay too."

Maybe Taeyong is right? (I  _hate _ saying that) I mean, I do enjoy spending time with Hyuck more than with Tzuyu but that doesn't automatically make me gay. Niether does being friends with someone who's gay. But at the same time- I  _don't _ kiss Tzuyu. Honestly... I'm not even sure if I'm actually attracted to her anymore. How am I supposed to know? I always looked forward to the tutoring sessions with Hyuck and yes, I  _would _ cancel on Tzuyu all the time for him, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm gay either. "I honestly don't know whether I'm actually gay or straight."

"I mean.. you could be bi, that's also an option." he snorts lightly

I can feel myself rolling my eyes "No, that's- that's not what I mean like- okay, how did you know you were gay?"

"I.. hmm, that's a weird one." Hyuck looks up at the sky, lost in thought as he tries to figure out how to answer. "It just.. came to me with time. It was definitely a slow process. It was always the dumb things, like wanting to do 'girlish-things' in elementary school, and cringing whenever people would date. It was.. hitting middle school and watching my friends discover porn for the first time and just not being into what they showed me. You'd think it'd be like- not being able to get along with girls, but I'm better friends with most girls than I am with guys, especially the guys here. I just, one day, realized that I thought guys were hot, and girls were just cute. You know? There's nothing big and in your face that pops out and goes 'Hey, you're gay!!' And it's okay to not be like- typical either. There's a whole spectrum of gayness and straightness that you can be placed on." he ends with a comforting smile.

This gets me thinking. Everytime I paid a little too much attention to the way his hair fell perfectly into place every time or the way that his eyes sparkled when he finally understood something or how his stupidly mismatched socks always somehow seemed to match.. or whenever he wouldn't show up to school and I would worry about him, when we argued last week and it crushed me.. was this all because I  _do _ have feelings for him? "I think that Taeyong might possibly be right? But I don't know how to know for sure."

"Hmm.." He almost looks guilty, "I know how you can tell. Just- know that this isn't me taking advantage of you. If you are straight, that's okay with me, and I won't bug you on it. Just... see if you like it."

"So.. am I supposed to-" Hyuck interrupts me, he looks calm, but his eyes are glinting with something more.

"Kiss me."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So uh.. This is it lmao.  
We wrote I wanna say chapters 7-10 in one sitting about a month ago, but its only now that we're finally going to be done with the fic. I'd like to say thank you so, so much for any of you who actually read through the whole thing, writing a fic with someone else is a lot harder than it looks but we both had so much fun turning this out for y'all!
> 
> If you'd like, we actually have a few little spinoffs for this to turn it into a series, so like- a sequel for TenHyuck and possibly a ficlet for Johnny (a.k.a Hyuck's teacher). If you're interested in any of that please let us know!
> 
> As always, enjoy, and thank you for reading! ❤️

I told him to kiss me, and he did. It’s nothing too complex, just lips on lips, and the sun aggressively shining on our heads, heat reaching my hair and making everything seem so, _ so_ much hotter than it actually is. For most people, there's nothing special about this, there's no tongue and our knees keep bumping against each other clumsily, but to me, this is everything. Is this what we’ve been leading up to this whole time _? _ I shouldn’t assume, I told him I’d only take this as what he tells me it is.  _But this feels right, and he hasn't pulled away._

I don't want him to, so I'll just do it instead. I lean away from him and sit straight again as my breath evens itself out. There's silence between us, but it doesn't feel uncomfortable; it feels focused. "So, how was that?"

Waiting for an answer feels like forever, but Ten seems blissed out and I'd rather die than rush something that may mean so much to him. "....I'm definitely not straight."

I'm a bit too relieved hearing that, and I can feel myself giggle, ending it with a happy sigh, "That's great for me, you know."

Ten laughs, looking relieved as well. The pressure from everyone must have really hurt him. I'm glad he seems better now, "So... what now?"

"Well.. That's up to you. You've definitely got some choices to make now. For example, you have a girlfriend." I'm afraid that saying that may have been the wrong thing to say based on the way Ten's face falls.

A girl speaks now, "No he doesn't."  _It wasn't my fault_ , and I'm pretty sure my expression's mimicked his as I watch Tzuyu walk over the field towards us.

Ten seems shocked but I feel guilty. "Tzuyu?" 

"You could've just told me you know. that probably would've saved us both a lot of trouble," Tzuyu says calmly.

"I don't think Ten knew until now. I'm sorry I stole your boyfriend." I hope that didn't come off too harshly, I genuinely feel bad for her. She didn't do anything wrong.

"I mean... he's right. I  _didn't_ know.." Ten says.

Tzuyu shrugs, "I'm not mad anymore, I kind of saw it coming. No hard feelings?" 

Ten nods almost immediately, "No hard feelings. I'm sorry."

"Mhm. I don't think either of us were really taking it too seriously in the first place; I forgive you. See you around?" She gives both of us a small smile, but it seems just a bit strained. 

Ten and I return her smile before he pipes up, "Yeah, thank you."

I wave as she turns away to leave and walks back towards the cafeteria.

I sigh. Things will hopefully turn around for her soon; I'll be happy for her. Where does this leave Ten and I? "Well, I guess that's two things off your plate. So... should I help with the rest of this before asking you out on a date or?..." This is probably the closest I'll ever get to being shy when it's  _not_ a social gathering I'm forced to go to. 

"I mean.. we could do both at the same time?" Ten tilts his head, and the way he smiles at me makes me instinctively smile back.

"Yeah, I'm down for that. Does that mean that we're still on for Thursday?"

~~~~~

It's been a month since I kissed Hyuck. I'm supposed to be at home and inside talking with my family but I'm currently sitting outside, in the driveway with Hyuck instead. My nerves are getting to me and all I can seem to do is stare at the front door, unable to bring myself to go inside and come out to them.

"Ten, you'll be okay. You said that they're understanding enough, I think it'll go fine." He leans against my arm comfortingly.

"Well, yeah they're understanding.. but my entire family is Mormon. And being gay in the church isn't exactly widely accepted yet.." In some areas, it's okay to be gay and the church as a whole is pretty accepting, despite most people's understanding. It's just- some of the people in the church haven't come to terms with that aspect yet. They still think that if you're gay and in the church, you should be cut off or that you don't belong.

"I mean- I didn't burst into flames when you dragged me to sacrament last weekend so I guess there's that." He giggles to try and ease some of my anxiety.

And I guess it works because I hear myself laughing as well. "Yeah, there's that." I sigh and tear my eyes away from the door, shifting my gaze over to the boy on my arm. "I don't know... what if they want me to go to counseling or set me up with another girl or what if they don't want to support me or something? What then?"

"Is that the worst thing that can happen? If they send you to counseling, you can explain your situation and honestly, the talking will probably do you some good. If they set you up with a girl, you take her out to tell her you're gay and then break up with her. If they aren't supportive, you're leaving the house soon anyways in just over a year." he plants a soft kiss on my arm "You'll be okay, I promise. Other than that, what's truly the worst thing that could happen?"

"I mean- they could kick me out of the house.. but I guess you're right with everything else. I'm just scared." Scared is an understatement. I am absolutely  _terrified_ . 

"And that's perfectly fine, I mean.. Coming out to my family was pretty easy because it's just mom, and well- she's her, so I don't know exactly what the family pressure feels like... but I have a plan, even for your worst-case scenario."

"What is it?" I reach over and move some of his hair out of his face, deciding to focus on him instead.

"Get in there first, I'll tell you afterward."

Something between a groan and a whine comes out of my mouth. "But Hyuck- it'll help me be less scared and it'll ease my conscience if you tell me now."

"Well... Fine." Looking up at me, he gives me a soft, comforting smile. "The house gets pretty lonely, and I've got some extra space on my bed, so you'll just stay with me if nothing else."


End file.
